On the Mulberry Drop

This carp was hooked in a 
heavily shaded  spot under
a mulberry tree.

 

A mulberry is impaled with
my #8 hook. They are best
fished freelined with no
weight.

My previous post talked about how the carp were on the post spawn feed.
Well, if you know of a mulberry tree on the water's edge, that is a great source of food for these hungry carp.  Carp absolutely love mulberries. They just can't get enough of them, and they will gorge themselves on berries that are hitting the water.

I fished a spot tonight in which the berries were dropping like raindrops onto the water below.  Carp were under the tree just grabbing every berry that hit the water. I came prepared. I quickly grabbed a berry off the ground and impaled it with a size 8 small shank hook.  I casted it out and within a second of the berry hitting the water a carp rose from the depths and inhaled it. The fight alerted all the other carp who were feeding, and they all took off sensing something was wrong. Be aware that the carp get wise to this berry fishing, and they quickly learn which berry has a hook in it and which berry does not. They also learn that when a fish has been hooked, it's time to quickly flee to safety!

Post Spawn Carp on the Feed; Ideal Weather

This combo bait of maize and
a white pop-up fished on the
hair rig has been super effective
lately. 

 June has been a very good month of carp fishing for me.  I have been in multiple places, and the fish are really hitting.  There are numbers to be had as well as some big ones up into the 20's.

All this good fishing is being fueled by two things.  First off, the carp are done spawning. Those post spawn carp tend to be very hungry, and they often go on a feeding spree for weeks after the spawn.  Secondly, the weather has stayed cool and rainy. Those are ideal conditions for fishing for carp even though most fishermen will avoid this bad weather. I'll take rainy and stormy anytime over nice and sunny!

I have also fished a variety of baits in June and all seem to be working. My homemade coconut boilies were very effective in early June.  Lately, my ole favorite combo bait of a white plastic pop-up corn along with a real kernel of maize on the hair rig has been very effective.

I have been getting good size commons as well as good
size mirrors mixed in with some smaller ones. June
fishing has been hot.

3rd Place- CAG National Big 4 Tournament/ TWO Potential State Records Released

My biggest carp in the tournament was a 38 lb.,
12 oz. monster common.  It was a potential state
record, and the second largest carp I have ever 
landed in RI!

The CAG National Spring Big 4 Tournament has come to an end, and I ended up in third place overall this year.  It was one of my best finishes ever in this event.  The event drew over 60 members from all over the US.  And, these guys really know how to carp fish! The first place finisher with 143 lbs. fished in Tennessee.  Second place came from Pennsylvania and surprise, surprise, third place came from RI.

The tournament ran from March 15 to June 15.  The goal was to enter your four biggest carp.  My four fish total came to 133 lbs., 12 oz. I had carp of 38 lbs., 12 oz. (potential state record), 36 lbs., 4 oz. (potential state record), 29 lbs., 8 oz., and 29 lbs., 4 oz. All my fish were caught from RI waters.  This was my second biggest weight total in the 12 years that I have been doing this tournament. I caught all these fish on the same baits- a combo bait of one kernel of maize and a white pop-up artificial corn fished on the hair rig. A  method ball was packed around my sinker.

For my third place finish, I won a $100.00 gift certificate to Big Carp Tackle. I'm sure I can find something nice to buy with that! 

May Leg of RI CAG Big 3 Tournament Completed

 We are now 2/3 of the way through our RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament.  Here are the results from April and May along with the totals.  Medals donated by CAG are awarded to our top 3 finishers.  The tournament ends in June.

1st- Brian Savage- 20/7 + 25/1= 45/8

2nd- Tom Perron- 18/4 + 16/ 5= 34/9

3rd- Tony Carvalho- 0 + 23= 23

4th- Manny Dias- 15 + 0= 15

Brian Savage landed the biggest carp in May
for our Tournament.  The fish weighed 25 lbs., 1 oz.
The one on the mat is not too shabby also!